legislation of robots on legal issues

The unique “Tokku” Special Zone for Robot-ics Empirical Testing and Development (RT special zone) originated in Japan. Since 2003, the world’s first RT special zone had already established in Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City and Kitakyushu City. At that time, Takanishi Laboratory, Humanoid Robotics Institute of Waseda University had conducted many empirical testing within several different…

Conferring legal personhood on purely synthetic entities is a very real legal possibility, one under consideration presently by the European Union. We show here that such legislative action would be morally unnecessary and legally troublesome. While AI legal personhood may have emotional or economic appeal, so do many superficially desirable hazards against which the law…

The Lieutenant has lost several men to enemy snipers over the past several weeks. He orders the AWS to accompany one of the squads under his command and preemptively strike any enemy sniper nests it detects–again, an order he had given to other AWS units before without incident. This time, the AWS unit misidentifies a…

This essay begins by identifying the legally salient features of home robots: the aspects of home robots that will likely drive the most interesting legal questions. It then explores how current privacy law governing both law enforcement and private parties addresses a number of questions raised by home robots. First, how does privacy law treat…

As of March 31, 2015, Google owns a shiny new patent (8,996,429) outlining a robot that changes personalities based on circumstance and a wide variety of user information. The system stores useful data in the cloud where it can be accessed by other robots.

The modern question relating to AI entities becomes: Does the growing intelligence of AI entities subject them to legal social control, as any other legal entity? This article attempts to work out a legal solution to the problem of the criminal liability of AI entities. At the outset, a definition of an AI entity will…

Modern medical concerns with telemedicine and robotics practiced across national or other jurisdictional boundaries engage the historical, complex area of law called conflict of laws. An initial concern is whether a practitioner licensed only in jurisdiction A who treats a patient in jurisdiction B violates B's laws. Further concerns are whether a practitioner in A…

The Frankenstein myth of creature turning on creator is centuries if not millennia old. But only recently, under the impact of the cybernetic revolution, has this fantasy entered the realm of the possible. This paper explores the legal ramifications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with specific emphasis on “humanoid” criminality. Following a review of the actual…

Two decades of analysis have produced a rich set of insights as to how the law should apply to the Internet’s peculiar characteristics. But, in the meantime, technology has not stood still. The same public and private institutions that developed the Internet, from the armed forces to search engines, have initiated a significant shift toward…

This paper considers how legal theory, or jurisprudence, might be applied to robots. This is done with the intention of determining what concepts and approaches to robot ethics might be gained from taking a legal perspective. In many cases, legal theory is suggestive of possible approaches to problems that will require further work to evaluate.…

Robots can pose -- or can appear to pose -- a threat to life, property, and privacy. May a landowner legally shoot down a trespassing drone? Can she hold a trespassing autonomous car as security against damage done or further torts? Is the fear that a drone may be operated by a paparazzo or a…

Big Data is increasingly mined to rank and rate individuals. Predictive algorithms assess whether we are good credit risks, desirable employees, reliable tenants, valuable customers — or deadbeats, shirkers, menaces, and “wastes of time.” Crucial opportunities are on the line, including the ability to obtain loans, work, housing, and insurance. Though automated scoring is pervasive…